Some homes today are equipped with smart home networks to provide automated control of devices, appliances and systems, such as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (“HVAC”) system, lighting systems, home theater, entertainment systems, as well as security systems. Smart home networks typically include central hubs or a control panel that provides a user interface for receiving user input and controlling the various devices, appliances, and security systems in the home.
Security systems in smart home networks typically include “entry delay” and “dialer delay” features to mitigate against false alarms. When an entry delay is implemented, entry through certain doors in the home may trigger a countdown of thirty seconds or more prior to activating the alarm in order to give the user time to enter the home, reach the control panel, and disarm the alarm. If the alarm is not disarmed in time, an alarm will sound in the home. Alternatively or in addition, a dialer delay may be implemented in which a signal may not be sent to a monitoring service or law enforcement entity for another thirty seconds or more in order to give the user additional time to disarm the alarm.
An intruder may be aware of these delay features and take advantage of the time that they afford. For example, the intruder may forcibly enter through a door which triggers a delayed entry countdown, locate the control panel, and attempt to destroy it in order to prevent the alarm from being activated and/or to prevent the system from sending out a signal to a monitoring system. Such tactics may be referred to as “smash-and-bash.”